The Fixer (2008–2009) User Reviews (15)

Saving graces

[journalist1 · 7/10 · 25 March 2008]

A very strong cast with interesting plot lines. I am fascinated at the interaction between the four main characters, fractious yet bound together by circumstances beyond their control; however these are situations of their own making, each wounded with many redeemable qualities, attributes that may save or destroy them.

The action scenes are direct, no nonsense yet never indulgent, in your face violence that reflects the nature of the beast with great realism.

The situations the team find themselves in, dealing with issues most worrying the public at the moment, how to manage some of the problems that exist in our society that traditional policing can't or won't act upon, damage control as it were, perhaps for incompetent political policy at the highest level?

The Fixer

[Rupert17 · 7/10 · 1 March 2010]

Entertaining tosh about a group of misfits formed to provide a service over and beyond the limits of British policing. In effect, the group is asked to either terminate or neutralize those seen as a threat to British society and its values. They are not strictly MI-5, nor are they attached to the police force, but their control and assignments seem to emanate from somewhere in British government, although it would appear that their activities are not necessarily monitored or made known officially to the Prime Minister.

A very strong acting corps, including Peter Mullan, Andrew Buchan and Tamzin Outhwaite carry some dubious plots with good gritty performances. Some of today's issues like people smuggling, sexual exploitation and pedophilia are covered in several of the episodes.

The Fixer is not up to the same standard as Spooks, but few programs are. Good escapism with high production values. 7/10

still love it after all these years

[ib011f9545i · 8/10 · 3 July 2021]

Due to covid there are fewer new tv shows to watch.

So I am looking at old dvds.

This is a British drama series from 2008/2009.

Spoilers spoilers spoilers

The story is that an ex British army special forces soldier who has been in jail is released by a secret government department.

It is not an original idea,eg Nikita but it is well made and well acted.

I think it deserves to be better known or even remade.

Beautifully acted and executed series

[limoguy1 · 10/10 · 22 November 2011]

I think this show was exceptionally well-made both in production values mirroring the down-and-out locations used and in the everyman-wish to see the "bad guys" dealt with after having dodged a cumbersome hands-tied legal system.

It's a shame that a couple of reviewers tried to put the boot in instead of dealing with their own obvious issues.

I find that I keep checking every few months to see if the Powers That Be (PTB) have decided to extend The Fixer in the same way that they practically forced Spooks to continue because fans refused to let them bring to an end what was probably one of the top television shows ever made ON EITHER SIDE OF THE Atlantic.

Excellent new show

[paulusar · 10/10 · 14 April 2008]

I have watched the first three episodes of this show and was very impressed and entertained. Of course this is fiction, such goings on would not be allowed in real life. There is no harm in fantasizing about "what if" and producing good entertainment. Spooks, made by the same people is literally one of the best TV shows I have ever seen in over 50 years of TV viewing. I started watching TV in the early 50's when there was only one channel (BBC) to watch. The actors in this show are very likable and the plots seem to be in touch with the reality of modern day life in Britain. I realize that some foreign viewers found some of the language difficult to follow, but this show was written for the domestic TV audience and British people will understand it.

Warning for closure seekers

[lotekguy-1 · 6/10 · 22 April 2022]

Good characters. Decent structure. Fine array of villains. Competent scripting. Action a bit restrained for this type of series, with too much of the essential violence occurring off-camera.

Season 2 ends as if they were confident about a renewal. They blew that call. The result was a final fade to black that wasn't as satisfying as the previous 11 episodes had been, a/k/a Paybackus Interruptus. As long as that's not a deal-breaker for you, enjoy the gritty crime drama that preceded its untimely demise.

Gritty drama and some solid action

[StevinTasker · 9/10 · 9 February 2009]

I love stuff like this. A tortured hero and a motley crew around him laying waste to all that is bad in the world. Each episode has action much like in the Professionals and the hero has a soul reminiscent of Edward Woodward in Callan.

The situations given to us each week depict a dark underbelly of crime; many of which ring all too true. It's dirty, nasty and the people therein are little better. Thankfully there's a lot to like about John Mercer, he's intelligent and his brooding on screen presence is lifted albeit momentarily by sharp dialogue and some welcome comic relief from his sidekick.

The shady organisation he works for is nothing new but the adventures are pulled off with such enthusiasm I can't help but like this show. Can't wait for series two.

Well casted

[RobinCook70 · 6/10 · 31 March 2008]

This show has a lot of promise ... good casting and a different threaded theme to continue with more episodes. There is a good amount of creativity and variables to make each story interesting.

The one, thing, though, that I don't like about the show is I cannot understand OVER half of what the actors are saying. Either the suspense-to-impact music drowns out an important sentence/statement or the accent fluidity is so thick and/or slurred/blurred I end up rewinding five or six times to attempt to understand what is being said (and most times have given up). If this speech were worked about more, there would be more of a viewing audience. I'll try and watch a few more episodes to perhaps get more familiar with their speech patterns, but after four episodes of viewing I'm ready to give up and wait until it comes out on DVD so I can turn on English subtitles ... I think that is what is being spoken, right? I enjoy many British shows, but turn away from them when I cannot understand the speech and fear this will be yet another one I'll have to do a pass.

Other than this, the show has all the right elements and can see that it will have a fast growing audience ... in the UK only perhaps.

Once again a really good show is lost....

[bobbiekostos · 10/10 · 6 February 2019]

Truly enjoyed the characters on this show & the synergism they had together. Andrew Buchanan was especially talented & I am happy to see him in more upcoming movies. Just sorry this show wasn't renewed.

Violent but....

[lindasusanstrang · 6/10 · 14 April 2023]

I normally loathe violence in my TV mystery/crime shows. (one reason for my love of series like Midsomer Murders - the violence almost always happens off-screen) but this series won me over.

I really liked the cast, if not the characters themselves, very much. They all have somewhat conflicted pasts, making the relationships between the four main characters complex and interesting. I particularly loved the somewhat innocent Calum, who provides most of the comic relief but, also, is the center of one of the most painful episodes. (And, incidentally, looks a bit like he could be related to Taron Egerton!)

These are people doing bad things for, sometimes good reasons, oftentimes very selfish motives. They must work as a team, relying on each other and yet, trust is generally absent, creating stress and dangerous mistakes.

I cringed at the violence but I ended up caring about John and Callum.

My only complaint is that there was no resolution at the very end - who w'wins', John or Lenny and Symmonds?

About time!

[dalkdee · 10/10 · 7 April 2008]

It's has been ages since a show with good casting and writing has been produced in Britain. Normally you only see this kind of writing style some of the mini series produced by the BCC. This kind of show is what is needed to compete with that of what we have to watch from America. The dialog is good,funny even when unexpected, the character establishment is just right. there is enough action. Evin in the first episode the characters are not only established for who they are but also some of them have their own personal revelations. after watching the first episode I am satisfied that foundation concept for this show will unravel into a very charming story. A must see!

Slow, simplistic, silly, boring, banal, irritating, corny...

[Alex-Tsander · 1/10 · 14 April 2014]

I don't watch TV but bought the entire first series of this rubbish before discovering that I simply couldn't bear trying to watch it. The whole idea is ridiculous and a cliché to start with. But we set that on one side as its a staple format.

However, it also tries to imitate the superb Sixies TV series Callan to a disgraceful extent. Hence the relationship between the main character and his side-kick, a direct plagiarising of the earlier series. The sidekick is also the shows most awful point. Why on Earth would such a useless, incompetent, idiot be employed in a highly secret, sensitive and critical operation such as depicted? The main character describes him as unbearably irritating. well, surprise, he is...so whats the idea, do the makers want us to be continually irritated start to finish. If so, then they succeeded.

Then its pace....so slow you could watch icebergs melt in the longeurs.

The action...I didn't see any in episode one, none whatsoever.

Plot less, directionless and docile, whats the point?

An example of what is wrong with British TV and perhaps British society.

[AmandaAdams · 1/10 · 25 September 2008]

Poorly written, poorly directed and with a mediocre cast, The Fixer caps this by its message of 'the only way to fix things is through violence'. And the Brits wonder why their youth are killing each other.

The idea for The Fixer is as old as the hills – a righter of wrongs. It was brilliantly done back in the heyday of British television by series such as The Saint, The Avengers and many others. But while the Saint, Steed and Purdy were aspirational figures, would anyone want their son or daughter to grow up to be like anyone in The Fixer? I hope not. Nothing about The Fixer is aspirational, and that also applies to its production values. Set in a series of dingy apartments in dingy parts of London where the sun never shines, the production adopts the hand held camera documentary approach much of the time, succeeding in giving the impression that this is real life rather than fiction. Perhaps much of London and Londoners are like that, but couldn't it be done with a bit more style? American series manage it. Couldn't we have a couple of characters to root for?

According to Wikipedia, the viewing figures for The Fixer had halved by the end of the first six episodes, suggesting that thankfully the viewers have had their fill of this irresponsible glorification of violence. Let's hope the viewers have disappeared altogether by the end of the next six. That way the network bosses might just get the message.

Nasty

[moviebrat2007 · 1/10 · 11 April 2008]

This series is one of the most unpleasant programmes I have ever watched. Masquerading behind some sort of phony hypocritical moral standpoint, it is just an excuse for people to get off on their nastiest tendencies. Shameful rubbish. I notice that the director was also responsible for a particularly bad drama about Princess Diana.Yuk! The audience is invited to empathise with a team of people whose official status has been blurred to make you think that they represent the forces of darkness in our secret services, and in our policing system. In fact they are simply silly and over-heated fantasies of a group of executives who are desperate to find an audience for a puerile form of right wing justification for violent retribution. I had to take a long shower after watching the first episode. I turned the second one off when I realised that it tread the same territory. It was very badly directed too.

... can't get past it

[bjarias · 5/10 · 7 November 2021]

... there's some of us no matter how good the programming just cannot tolerate very closeup camera work... whatever it is it just gets more & more distracting-annoying... it doesn't take long & you know you're-out.